1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for producing a mineral water. In particular, the invention relates to a method and an apparatus suitable for producing a drinkable mineral water for business purposes at a restaurant or for domestic purposes in a home, which can adjust the concentration of minerals in the mineral water produced or the concentration ratio between the minerals depending on a user's requirements
2. Description of the Related Art
A known apparatus for producing a mineral water has a cartridge with a mineral source therein, such as mineral grains, for supplying minerals, such as calcium, potassium and magnesium into plain water such as city water or service water passing through the cartridge.
An apparatus for producing a mineral water, which is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 3-26392, includes a porous mineral source with minute pores in its surface to increase the area of contact between plain water and the mineral source. Ultrasonic waves are applied to the mineral source to increase the amount of mineral dissolved in the plain water. Applying ultrasonic waves disturbs the flow of plain water over the surface of the mineral source which promotes the dissolution of the mineral components in the plain water.
Although the apparatus of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 3-26392 can produce a mineral water with a fixed mineral concentration and/or a fixed concentration ratio between minerals, the apparatus cannot produce a mineral water with the mineral concentration and the concentration ratio between minerals adjusted to meet a user's requirements since the apparatus applies the ultrasonic waves under fixed conditions.